Motichoor laddu is a dessert in spherical shape made up of tiny gram flour balls cooked in ghee or oil, then added in saffron and cardamom infused sugar syrup and moulded into balls called as Laddu in India.
Diwali special
These laddus are specially made during Diwali. Diwali/Deepavali is an Indian traditional festival where people celebrate the joy of victory over evil, by lighting the lamps(clay diyas) around the house and crackers are ignited along with all family members.Where in the house is filled with lights, joy, sweets and snacks, along with fun laughs and giggles of everyone in home. Diwali/Deepavali is an Indian traditional festival where people celebrate the joy of victory over evil, by lighting the lamps(clay diyas) around the house and crackers are ignited along with all family members.
To celebrate this auspicious day we Indians make many delicious sweets, snacks and one among that is this MOTICHOOR LADDU, sweet balls made of tiny gram flour dumplings and infused in sugar syrup along with some nuts and melon seeds. These are melt in the mouth good sweets and is loved by one who have sweet tooth.There are many mythological tales associated with this festival, and one among that is when Lord RAMA after 14 year period of exile has rescued SITA DEVI from the RAVANA on this day and people has celebrated the victory of good over evil and they welcomed them with lighting the lamps around the kingdom. One more story I heard a lot as a child is that Lord KRISHNA has defeated the demon NARAKASURA and is celebrated by lighting the row of lamps across the kingdom.
When I use the term Boondi it is referred to fried Chickpea flour/gram flour deep fried balls.
MOTICHOOR LADDU
Motichoor ke ladoo are melt in the mouth laddus made from chickpea flour. One of the most popular Festive Indian sweet.
Servings: 8 people
Equipment
- Tea strainer to remove the boondi’s from Kadai
- Perforated spoon
- P.s., if you don’t have a spoon which doesn’t have tiny holes to make this small size boondi’s then take an aluminum serving tray/foam plate or bowl and make some holes using a bamboo skewer, that’s it a DIY perforated tray is ready in no time.
- Deep frying pan
Ingredients
For Boondi’s
- 1 cup Gram flour (US standard cup)
- Water as required
- 1 pinch Baking soda
- 2 pinches Orange Food grade color Oil/ghee – to deep fry
- Oil/Ghee to deep fry
For Sugar syrup
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Water
- 10 strands Saffron
- 1 tsp Lemon juice
- 1 pinch Orange Food grade color
For laddu's
- 2 tbsp Melon seeds
- 2 tbsp Chopped cashews
- 2 tbsp Chopped pistachios
- 1 tbsp Chopped almonds
Instructions
MAKING BOONDI BATTER
- Take a mixing bowl and place a sieve on that and add gram flour, food grade color, baking soda and sieve it.
- Later whisk the flour gently by adding 1/4 cup water initially and try to bring everything together and lump free, then add 1/4 cup water more and gently stir to make it smoother(make sure to not over whisk as it may make the batter airy)
- Now add water gently by keep mixing gently to make a loose batter than the Pakoda batter, to test the perfect consistency of batter just take some batter in a ladle lift and pour, or pour the batter on the perforated spoon or tray and make sure it’s dripping through the holes (and the batter should be running not dripping but at the same time it shouldn’t be watery, just good enough to pass through the sieve).
FRYING THE BOONDI’S
- Heat a deep circular wok/Kadai and bring the ghee/oil good enough to deep fry on high heat and then lower the heat a little.
- Now hold the perforated spoon/tray above the kadai and add the batter one ladle full at a time and keep rotating the tray across and keep running the ladle in the tray to make sure all the batter has passed down through.
- Let the boondi’s fry for a minute and take them out using a tea strainer(as they’re very small, tea strainer is the best in removing fried boondi’s from pan) and place them on kitchen towel/napkin to drain out excess oil.
- Repeat the process for the remaining batter and let the boondi’s rest a bit until you make the sugar syrup.
MAKING THE SUGAR SYRUP
- In a saucepan add sugar and water, saffron strands and leave it for 5-10 min.
- Now heat the pan and bring the sugar and water to a rolling boil and reduce the heat.
- The consistency of syrup we need is somewhere before one string consistency i.e, once the sugar is completely dissolved in water just check the consistency by rubbing the syrup in between two fingers, it should be sticky enough and doesn’t need to form any string when tested.
- Switch off the stove immediately and add the fried boondi’s to the syrup, chopped nuts give it a good mix, cover and rest it for at least 30-60 min.
MAKING THE LADDUS
- Once the boondi’s are infused in sugar syrup, give it a good gentle stir, rub some ghee on to your palms and take a handful of mixture at a time, squeeze and tighten the mixture and give it a round shape to make perfect laddu and place them on a plate.
- Repeat for the remaining mixture and serve them warm or cooled down.
Notes
1. When making the batter make sure it is lump free and not too thick or thin, just runny enough to pass through the perforated spoon.
2. While frying the boondi’s make sure you’re not frying too much, if the boondi’s crispens then the laddu’s won’t be soft and once they’re cooled down they might turn hard. So make sure to fry for 60-90 secs and then take them out immediately.
3. When adding the fried boondi’s to the syrup, make sure the syrup is hot, that way the boondi’s infuse more syrup and makes the laddu’s juicy and melt in the mouth.
4. For the rich and authentic taste of boondi’s fry them in ghee and place a silver leaf on top of laddu’s to make it more rich and festive.
